The spread of Neolithic plant economies from the Near East to northwest Europe: a phylogenetic analysis

Phylogenetic techniques are used to analyse the spread of Neolithic plant economies from the Near East to northwest Europe as a branching process from a founding ancestor. The analyses are based on a database of c. 7500 records of plant taxa from 250 sites dated to the early Neolithic of the region in which they occur, aggregated into a number of regional groups. The analysis demonstrates that a phylogenetic signal exists in the data but it is complicated by the fact that in comparison with the changes that occurred when the crop agriculture complex expanded out of the Near East, once it arrived in Europe it underwent only limited further changes. On the basis of the analysis it has been possible to identify the species losses and gains that occurred as the complex of crops and associated weeds spread and to show the influence of geographical location and cultural affinity on the pattern of losses and gains. This has led to consideration of the processes producing that history, including some reasons why the dispersal process did not produce a perfect tree phylogeny, as well as to the identification of some specific anomalies, such as the unusual nature of the Bulgarian pattern, which raise further questions for the future.     

Manuring and stable nitrogen isotope ratios in cereals and pulses: towards a new archaeobotanical approach to the inference of land use and dietary practices

This paper explores the impact of animal manure application on the δ¹⁵N values of a broad range of crops (cereals and pulses), under a range of manuring levels/regimes and at a series of locations extending from northwest Europe to the eastern Mediterranean. We included both agricultural field experiments and areas where ‘traditional’ farming is practised. Our aim is to ground-truth interpretation of δ¹⁵N values in archaeobotanical crop remains as evidence of past growing conditions and husbandry practices. The results confirm the potentially radical impact of manuring on δ¹⁵N values in cereals, depending on manuring level, but indicate only a slight effect on pulses, which can fix atmospheric nitrogen. The expected geographical trend towards greater δ¹⁵N with increasing climatic aridity is not apparent, probably because the growing conditions for crops are ‘buffered’ through crop management. Each of these observations has fundamental implications for archaeobotanical interpretation of δ¹⁵N values as evidence of land use practices and (together with analysis of bone collagen/tooth enamel in potential consumers) palaeodiet.     

Pig domestication and husbandry practices in the middle Neolithic of the Wei River Valley,northwest China: evidence from linear enamel hypoplasia

Linear enamel hypoplasia is a physical deficiency occurring during the process of enamel formation and it is visible on the crowns of mammal teeth. It can be used to trace physical stresses during life. In this study, linear enamel hypoplasia in samples of pigs from three Neolithic sites in the Wei River valley (China) were recorded and analysed, to investigate the status of pigs at these sites, their living conditions, and furthermore to explore husbandry strategies for pigs during the Neolithic in the valley. The results suggest a domesticated status for pigs in the Neolithic and early Bronze Age. Also the frequency of LEH occurrence for the pigs corroborates a presumed intensification processes of pig husbandry, and the presence of environmental fluctuations during the period are considered. Some evidence also points to the fact that for pig, spring farrowing was the most common reproductive strategy in the Neolithic and early Bronze Age in this region.     

Hunting,gathering, fishing and herding: Animal exploitation in Sandy Flanders (NW Belgium) during the second half of the fifth millennium BC

Abstract

At Doel, in the lower basin of the river Scheldt, excavations have revealed camp sites of the Swifterbant culture dating back to the second half of the fifth millennium BC. They document the transition period from the Late Mesolithic to the Early Neolithic in Sandy Flanders (NW Belgium). The sites were situated on the top of sandy ridges which were covered with an alluvial hardwood forest vegetation and surrounded by wetlands. Only burnt animal remains survived at the sites, illustrating (seasonal) fishing and hunting. In addition, botanical evidence indicates the herding of domestic mammals. The finds are of importance for the reconstruction of the chronological development of the food economy of the Swifterbant culture.     

The role of waterways in the spread of the Neolithic

The causes and implications of the regional variations in the spread of the incipient agriculture in Europe remain poorly understood. We use population dynamics models to study the dispersal of the Neolithic in Europe from a localised area in the Near East, solving the two-dimensional reaction-diffusion equation on a spherical surface. We focus on the role of major river paths and coastlines in the advance of farming, to model the rapid advances of the Linear Pottery (LBK) and the Impressed Ware traditions along the Danube–Rhine corridor and the Mediterranean coastline, respectively. We argue that the random walk of individuals, which results in diffusion of the population, can be anisotropic in those areas and hence lead to an effective advection. The standard reaction-diffusion equation is thus supplemented with an advection term, confined to the proximity of major rivers and coastlines. The model allows for the spatial variation in both the human mobility (diffusivity) and the carrying capacity, reflecting the local altitude and latitude. This approach can easily be generalised to include other environmental factors, such as the bioproductivity of landscapes. Our model successfully accounts for the regional variations in the spread of the Neolithic, consistent with the radiocarbon data, and reproduces a time delay in the spread of farming to the Eastern Europe, Britain and Scandinavia.     

Recent archaeobotanical investigations into the range and abundance of Neolithic crop plants in settlements around Lake Constance and in Upper Swabia (south-west Germany) in relation to cultural influences

An overview is presented of the cultivated plants found at Lake Constance (Bodensee) and in the Upper Swabia region including the Federsee (Baden-Württemberg/south-west Germany) between 4000 and 2400 cal BC. This work relates to recent archaeobotanical investigations of the waterlogged sediments of 30 different Neolithic lakeside settlements. These sites provided almost 500,000 crop plant macro-remains, excellently preserved under waterlogged conditions. Taken in conjunction with other previously collected samples from the region, they provide an added dimension to the understanding of crop plant development in the lakeshore Neolithic in south-west Germany.     

The origins of agriculture in North-West Africa: macro-botanical remains from Epipalaeolithic and Early Neolithic levels of Ifri Oudadane (Morocco)

This research aims to shed light on the early stages of agricultural development in Northern Africa through the analysis of the rich macro-botanical assemblages obtained from Ifri Oudadane, an Epipalaeolithic–Early Neolithic site from North-East Morocco. Results indicate the presence of domesticated plants, cereals (Hordeum vulgare, Triticum monococcum/dicoccum, Triticum durum and Triticum aestivum/durum) and pulses (Lens culinaris and Pisum sativum) in the Early Neolithic. One lentil has been dated to 7611 ± 37 cal BP representing the oldest direct date of a domesticated plant seed in Morocco and, by extension, in North Africa. Similarities in both radiocarbon dates and crop assemblages from Early Neolithic sites in Northern Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula suggest a simultaneous East to West maritime spread of agriculture along the shores of the Western Mediterranean. Wild plants were abundantly collected in both the Epipalaeolithic and the Early Neolithic periods pointing to the important role of these resources during the two periods. In addition to fruits and seeds that could have been consumed by both humans and domesticated animals, fragments of esparto grass (Stipa tenacissima) rhizomes have been identified. This is a western Mediterranean native plant that may have been used as a source of fibres for basketry.     

The political ecology of recovery from armed conflict: the case of landmines in Mozambique

The devastation wrought by landmines on local populations is well known. However, the broader effects of mine presence on postwar recovery, and the progress of a ‘peace process’, remain largely unexamined. Both the academic and the practitioner literature regarding landmines lack a framework within which the mix of economic, political, social, agricultural, and ecological repercussions of mine presence in a context of postwar recovery can be investigated. Here, we consider the utility of political ecology to examine the influence of landmine presence on the socioecological relations important to postwar recovery in Mozambique. Landmines constitute the primary obstacle to the reconstruction and development in Mozambique. Because mine presence influences different aspects of recovery differently, we have selected three cases in the country where mine presence has impacted important components of recovery: agriculture, transportation corridors, and international investment. Peace process and recovery efforts by the international community do not presently address the broader, non-medical influences of landmine presence on recovery, and it is the intention of this article to contribute to an initial examination of these issues.     

近代中美畜牧兽医科技交流与合作探析

近代以来,农科留美学生引进了美国先进的畜牧兽医科技,促进了我国的畜牧兽医科技近代化进程。中美两国畜牧科技的交流与合作,表现在引进了优良畜禽品种并对国内的畜禽品种进行改良;引进并发展了近代家畜繁殖技术和畜禽饲养管理技术;从发展畜牧业的角度对草原和草地进行调查研究,对牧草进行栽培、选育、贮藏试验,从而揭开了中国近代牧草科技发展的序幕。中美两国兽医科技的交流与合作,则主要侧重于西兽医技术的引进与发展,其主要内容包括动物检疫事业的创建及发展、畜禽传染病的防治与研究等。     

Cleaning up after the Celtic Tiger: scalar 'fixes' in the political ecology of Tiger economies

This paper explores intersections between political economy and nature in the so-called Tiger economies that have risen to prominence since the 1960s. Whilst Tiger states are in many ways emblematic of the extremes of late capitalism, they are nevertheless characterized by socio-natural environments that are distinctive, both in terms of the political and economic interests that have underpinned them and their rates of production. Whilst produced under a distinctive set of capitalist social relations, the dialectical reading offered herein chooses to foreground the agency that socio-nature itself possesses in relation to prevalent class interests. This agency is conceptualized in terms of a series of cultural wars over transformed nature. Using a theoretically provocative case study that examines the politics of waste management in Ireland, the paper argues that in reflecting upon the role of such culture wars in the constitution of dominant social relations in Tiger states, the concepts of scalar strategies and struggles over scale may prove useful. Whilst social contests over the scaling of governance have tended thus far to focus upon the dialectical relations between scale and political economy, the paper argues that ecological projects too are fundamentally produced by and implicated in the structuration of scale. In calling for dialogue between political ecological studies and recent work in geography that has sought to theorize scale as a social process, the paper hopes to contribute towards the development of a political ecology of Tiger states.     

An 8000-year history of landscape,climate, and copper exploitation in the Middle East: the Wadi Faynan and the Wadi Dana National Reserve in southern Jordan

Investigations of geomorphology, geoarchaeology, pollen, palynofacies, and charcoal indicate the comparative scales and significance of palaeoenvironmental changes throughout the Holocene at the junction between the hyper-arid hot Wadi 'Arabah desert and the front of the Mediterranean-belt Mountains of Edom in southern Jordan through a series of climatic changes and episodes of intense mining and smelting of copper ores. Early Holocene alluviation followed the impact of Neolithic grazers but climate drove fluvial geomorphic change in the Late Holocene, with a major arid episode corresponding chronologically with the ‘Little Ice Age’ causing widespread alluviation. The harvesting of wood for charcoal may have been sufficiently intense and widespread to affect the capacity of intensively harvested tree species to respond to a period of greater precipitation deduced for the Roman–Byzantine period – a property that affects both taphonomic and biogeographical bases for the interpretation of palynological evidence from arid-lands with substantial industrial histories. Studies of palynofacies have provided a record of human and climatic causes of soil erosion, and the changing intensity of the use of fire over time. The patterns of vegetational, climatic change and geomorphic changes are set out for this area for the last 8000 years.     

Foraging,Farming, and Social Complexity in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Southern Levant: A Review and Synthesis

The transition from foraging to farming of the Neolithic periods is one of, if not, the most important cultural processes in recent human prehistory. Integrating previously published archaeological materials with archaeological research conducted since 1980, the first half of this essay synthesizes our current understanding of archaeological data for the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period (ca. 11,700–ca. 8400 B.P.) of the southern Levant, generally defined as including southern Syria and Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian Autonomous Authority, Jordan, and the Sinai peninsula of Egypt. The second half of the essay explores how these data inform archaeologists about the processes by which social differentiation emerged, the nature of regional and interregional connections, and the mechanisms and processes by which the transition from foraging to food production first occurred in the Neolithic.     

Towards a critical political ecology of human–forest interactions: collecting herbs and mushrooms in a Bulgarian locality

This paper presents a critical political ecology of human–forest interactions in a Bulgarian locality. Based on primary fieldwork carried out annually since 1992, the argument is advanced that even in a relatively small space, environment–society relationships are sufficiently complex to make the enterprises of empirical analysis and theory-building quite challenging. Yet, as this case study of informal resource use practices shows, it is precisely because environment–society relationships are so intertwined that a 'symmetrical' treatment of humans and non-human actors is required; one that takes us well beyond the traditional political ecology of Blaikie or Black, but which, I shall argue, does not escape it entirely. Through a detailed ethnographic account of herb and mushroom collecting I develop the idea of 'symmetry' in three distinct ways. First I will explore the by now well-publicised notion that non-humans can be actors too. Second this basic insight will be developed via the more advanced conceptualisation of entities such as Thrift's 'effloresences' or expressions of 'distributed' information spaces and applied to the case study of herb and mushroom collection in a southwestern Bulgarian locality. Finally I consider the theoretical and practical policy implications of this analysis for all concerned, but most particularly those who claim to 'manage' and 'regulate' human–forest interactions.     

Polygamy and Legislation in Contemporary Iran: An Analysis of the Public Legal Discourse

The purpose of this article is to analyze the interaction between different interpretations of Islamic jurisprudence in Iran and state law. It focuses on the public legal discourse about the new Family Draft Law in 2007–08, especially Article 23 regulating polygamous marriages and removing necessity for the first wife's permission. The participants in this public legal debate, which took place on the internet and in the media, were civil society organizations, especially women's organizations, the Shiite clergy, and state representatives. The article argues that even in a non-democratic, theocratic state such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, public discourse promoted by the named actors can challenge and influence state legislation. The removal of Article 23 from the Draft confirms this argument, but in the law of 2013 the requirement for the first wife's permission is not found. By looking at the arguments brought forward in the public discourse, the article demonstrates that the arguments are mainly “Islamic,” and none refers to international human rights, as this seems to be a kind of taboo in the political discourse.     

Cultures of the eighth and seventh millennia BP in the southern Levant: A review for the 1990s

The Pottery Neolithic of the southern Levant (the eighth and seventh millennia BP) was a crucial period in which the foundations were laid for the development of complex societies and urban civilization. This article summarizes the current state of research in this area during this period. Past and present research in Israel and Jordan is reviewed, and methodological problems in fieldwork and analysis are discussed. We attempt a systematic definition of the archaeological entities. For each such entity, we present the available data on chronostratigraphy, characteristics of the material culture (including lithics, ceramics and architecture), burial customs, figurines and images, economy, and site-distribution. While the Yarmukian and Jericho IX occupied territories of similar size and seem to represent entities on the scale of a culture, the later Wadi Raba entity extended over a larger area and was of longer duration. A chronostratigraphic summary is presented, and the major entities are compared in terms of site-types, economy, burials, and geographical distribution.     

Use of space in a Neolithic village in Greece (Makri): phytolith analysis and comparison of phytolith assemblages from an ethnographic setting in the same area

Phytolith analyses were conducted in a Pottery Neolithic village (Makri) of Northern Greece in order to reconstruct aspects of past human activities as a function of both space and time. The analyses of phytolith assemblages were based on a reference collection of modern plant phytoliths (Tsartsidou et al., 2007), as well as an ethnographic study in an agropastoral community (Sarakini) in the same area that showed that many phytolith assemblages are characteristic of the activities carried out in different locations within and around the village (Tsartsidou et al., 2008). The same approach was used for studying the phytolith assemblages in the Neolithic village of Makri, namely measuring phytolith concentrations, diversities of phytolith assemblages relative to control samples collected from samples outside the village and detailed analysis of various phytolith morphotypes. At Makri samples from floors and various constructions (i.e. pit, platforms) were analysed, as well as sediments from an open area inside the village. The results show that Neolithic Makri was a society with a mixed agricultural and pastoral economy. Wheat and barley were cultivated for food and fodder and free-range animals were raised in a village inhabited year round. Indoor areas were not clearly differentiated from outdoor areas inside the village. The phytolith assemblages in only one series of floors produced at a specific location over an extended period of time reflected the use of that space for cereal storage or food processing. The phytolith assemblages from all the other floors examined did not reflect the local activities, but rather the constructional materials used for producing the floors.     

Preservation potential of charcoal in alkaline environments: an experimental approach and implications for the archaeological record

Charcoalified plant material (usually wood) has been described as being inert with a high preservation potential. Although usually black on both the outside and inside, the physical and chemical properties differ as a function of temperature and time of exposure to a heat source. Post-depositional processes however may exert additional affects on charcoalified material and introduce bias into the archaeological record. This work explores the influence of alkaline conditions, often encountered in the soil environment, on the preservation potential of charcoalified material. Charcoal, experimentally produced at different temperatures, was exposed to a number of solutions of potassium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide with different pHs, to simulate exposure to alkaline soil conditions. Under these conditions chemically mediated physical interactions occur resulting in fragmentation of the charcoal samples into (very) small pieces the size of which depends upon the initial temperature of charcoalification. Moreover further interactions result in a decrease in reflectance relative to samples not exposed to alkaline conditions. Although experimentally driven the potential for physical loss of charcoal from a particular site coupled with the reduction in (expected) reflectance of any resident material, has important implications for any conclusions drawn regarding the archaeological record.     

Barley and identity in the Spanish colonial Audiencia of Quito: Archaeobotany of the 18th century San Blas neighborhood in Riobamba

Archaeological excavation of two late-18th century household middens in the San Blas parish of the colonial city of Riobamba resulted in the recovery of samples of archaeobotanical remains dating to the period before the AD 1797 destruction of the city in an earthquake. These seed remains were dominated by barley (Hordeum vulgare) and quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa). The dominance of these two grains in samples from artisans’ households in this marginal neighborhood suggests that we should question the assumption that imported Old World domesticates were associated with more elite houses during the Spanish colonial period in the Andes.     

考古学研究玉器起源的一部力作——评《玉器起源探索——兴隆洼文化玉器研究及图录》

The book Research on the Origin of Jades:A Study and Album of XinglongwaCulture Jades jointly compiled and published by the Institute of Archaeology,CASS,and the Center forChinese Archaeology and Art,the Chinese University of Hong Kong,describes all the jades round 8000BP unearthed from the Xinglongwa site and expounds comprehensively the results of their studies.Itmakes a multi-angle discussion on related problems,such as the origin and diffusion,the use and usingmanner and the making technology of jad...